[tinkerbellchick]

Okay so I was wondering if it normal for someone not to have dreams. I never dream...I'll be thinking about something before I go to bed but then I never dream. I'm not sure if I ever had. But is not dreaming normal?
Tinkerbellchick

[Lenny]

Hi tinkerbell....

It is extremely unlikely that you are not dreaming. The process of dreaming is the sub conscious's way of cleaning house and if it didn't clean up rather regularly,,,profound insanity would result.

You are probably in very deep REM sleep and simply don't remember your dreams...I have periods when I don't have any recollection of dreams..generally after prolonged physical exertion and I am just dead tired...

IMHO.

Lenny

[Christina86]

Hi tinkerbellchick,

Everyone dreams. It's during the dream time that your body really rests and you get the relaxation and your body heals itself (and all that other nice stuff).

Some people are just heavy sleepers (myself included) so I won't remember any of my dreams unless they're nightmares, or I'm abruptly woken up during REM sleep (when dreams usually happen).

I believe that there is a way to train your brain to remember the dreams you have, but I can't remember how at the moment (I can do some searching if you're interested though).

[kim_johnson]

if people wake up right in the middle of REM sleep or very shortly thereafter then people report remembering their dreams.

if people wake up a little longer after REM sleep then they don't report remembering their dreams, however.

people who report that they 'don't dream' will report their dreams if they are woken from REM sleep in a sleep lab setting.

if you want to remember your dreams... then i'd start with keeping a journal / diary right beside your bed. as soon as you wake up (are waking up) in that half asleep half awake state... see how much of your dream you can recollect. you might be surprised that you can... then write it down as soon as possible. similarly, while you are going off to sleep... in that half sleep half awake state... as you find yourself drifting off... let your mind wander maybe in the direction of past dreams. if you start to remember then write them down as soon as possible.

the more effort you expend at those kinds of tasks the more you will find yourself remembering.

if that doesn't seem to be working for you then try setting your alarm. maybe half an hour before you are due to wake up or something like that. you want to try and catch yourself during an episode of REM sleep, you see (they don't last long - a matter of seconds even though people report they subjectively seem much longer). we have a number of episodes of them each night...

[AAAAA]

My husband has not had a dream that he remembered since he was 15, about 30 years.

[sunrise]

AAAAA, my H is the same way. He was always amazed by my dreams.

I remember my dreams frequently, and have always been interested in dreams. When I was a girl, I developed a method to remember a dream if I happened to wake up and couldn't remember one. I use it sometimes. I call it "going fishing" because it feels like I am fishing in my unconscious for a dream. Usually, though, I don't go fishing. I believe I will remember dreams if they are important and I need to. If my unconscious wants to make sure I get the "message", it will repeat the dream another night or communicate another way. So, yeah, I usually don't go fishing. Sometimes when I do, I recover a bad dream, and I realize there was a reason I was not remembering it (protective).

[(JD)]

Everyone dreams, yes.
Not everyone recalls them.

The brain uses dream time to replenish and revitalize memories, and to take some short term memories and put them into the long term memory files.

Depends upon whether someone is getting restorative sleep, and also when they are waking, as to whether they are dreaming much, and able to recall them.

[jmaichin]

i have not had a dream in almos5 thirteen years...don'tknow if it's "ormal" or not, but I don't miss nigtmares!

[jmariah001]

Sometimes I wish I could forget some of the dreams that I have. Especially the nightmares.

[Perna]

My husband never remembered his dreams until I started telling him about some of mine. Now he'll remember a few and tells them to me. His are kind of fun (mine are often wacky) as he often dreams about something that happened in another dream! He's woken himself up because he'll get frustrated looking for something or trying to solve a problem that happened in another dream only to realize that once he's awake.

I use to remember a lot of dreams when I was working with them and working hard in therapy. Now since I've finished therapy and "settled down" I don't remember as many as often. I used my dreams to help me get in touch with myself and they obliged.

You can "teach" yourself to remember your dreams if you want to:

http://www.wikihow.com/Remember-Dreams

[Pingu]

Everyone dreams, just that you forget the dream and think that it never happened. It helps to write the dream down as soon as possible when you wake up then you will slowly start remembering them more and more.
Also, you may think this is crazy, but you can control your dreams as well. It's called lucid dreaming. The main thing is to know that you ARE dreaming and not really awake (or hallucinating). If you think about it, there is only one source the images and sounds are coming from. You. You create them.
It's usually easier to spot a dream if it's a recurring dream or nightmare.

[ECHOES]

Waking up naturally, rather than with the jolt of an alarm clock, sometimes helps. A busy mind, thinking about getting out of bed and what you will do next can send the memory of the dream out of reach. So if you can, lay still when you awaken. Be still and don't start thinking. Sometimes drifting back off a bit brings the dream back and it's there when you awaken again.

If you remember even a bit, write that down to remember that and sometimes more will come to you later.

Some practice thinking to themselves at bedtime "I welcome all my dreams and I want to recall them when I awaken".

[Blue93]

i used to be able to do the lucid dreaming, usually in the morning when im sleeping verrry ligthly. Now it seems i only get nightmares... wish i wouldnt remember those! :/

[BalishBun]

My question is exactly the opposite, I was wondering if its normal to have multiple multiple dreams every single night.

[aceovrkill]

Originally Posted by (JD)

Everyone dreams, yes.
Not everyone recalls them.

The brain uses dream time to replenish and revitalize memories, and to take some short term memories and put them into the long term memory files.

Depends upon whether someone is getting restorative sleep, and also when they are waking, as to whether they are dreaming much, and able to recall them.

i know this is very old. But, we will actually never know if everyone dreams. What we do know is if someone experiences REM sleep. Even animals experience it, but that doesn't mean everyone and everything dreams. There is a very good chance some people do not dream at all. I recall pretty much all of the dreams I've had, not in entirety, but I remember enough of the key elements to be able to tell people about them, weeks, months and even years later. I have a couple dreams I've had since I was little. Anyway, I've noticed I usually feel much less rested when I wake up after not dreaming compared to when I do dream, even when I have nightmares.

[-jimi-]

It has been assumed we only dream during REM sleep. It is based on old research when people have been woken up during REM reporting dreaming. New research shows we can also dream during nREM but the dreams are of a different type. While it is still more common to dream during REM, we also dream during nREM.